Arrival

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Arrival

PG-13

2016

1h 56m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

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Popcornmeter

94%

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441 Reviews

83%

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50,000+ Ratings

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

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Critics Consensus

Arrival delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.

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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

Arrival transcends the limitations that so often govern the less creative examples of the subgenre, instead using it as a loose conceptual foundation upon which to build a theoretically-informed examination of what precisely ... makes us human.

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Kristen Lopez

Culturess

Arrival couldn't have arrived (pun intended) at a better time.

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

K. Austin Collins

The Ringer

I think of Arrival in terms of color: the milky grays of the clouds rolling over the Montana plain; the bright blue of computer screens bouncing off the gray tents on the makeshift army compound.

Aug 10, 2017

Full Review

JD Duran

InSession Film

The film works as a powerful allegory for how we try to decode and interpret the tragedies of our lives.

Aug 8, 2024

Full Review

Ankit Ojha

Cinema Elite

Without spoiling too much, let’s just say Villeneuve and Heisserer use the Kuleshov effect to turn the non-linear storytelling of “Arrival” from a gimmick to an indispensable part of the film.

Rated: 4.5/5

Jul 9, 2024

Full Review

Anthony McGlynn

Vague Visages

Arrival is a work that resents the necessity of violence. However, the film ditches some of the meditative qualities of the bleakness-to-idealism dialectic of the album in favor of making a cold hard stand against war and those who clamour for it.

Feb 6, 2024

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Jonathan F

Extremely short-paced, felt like most of the movie was empty without a real driving story. I would have hoped for more action.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/22

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Katie D

An amazing film! very well-done, thought-provoking, entertaining and unpredictable. my only complaint is about the loud horn blasts that accompany so many science fiction movie scenes - unnecessary, unrealistic and distracting! other than that it was awesome!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/15/21

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Steven A

This movie wowed me. It's great to watch and discuss as the ideas of fate and time are so interesting here. The movie is a bit cerebral and not for the action junkies but I like it when a movie makes me think and I don't remember seeing aliens portrayed quite as 'alien' in any other movie. It's a hard grounded sci-fi movie that needs more like it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/05/25

Full Review

André Ferreira F

Um fantástico filme de ficção científica. (avaliação: 9/10)

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/05/25

Full Review

VITALII H

It reminded me of the movie "Leave the world behind" that I also wrote a review on. Originally I gave that movie 6 out of 10 but after watching this new movie it somehow made me appreciate the old one so much more that now I would ve give it an 8 or 9. So you can tell that "Arrival" was not for me. It was so fascinating to see lots of reviews quoting "I wish that I could forget the entire movie so I can watch it again because it was so monumental". as for me I wish I just could forget this movie without the second part of that review. It was supposed to have unpredictable ending. It was unpredictable, I'll admit that but still it was bs. I regret spending 2 hours of my life on this.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/29/25

Full Review

Adam D.

Every rewatch of this film gives you something else to take away. This really is science fiction at its finest. The play with language, time, emotions and decisions make this so much more than any ordinary science fiction film. Amy Adams is incredible.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/28/25

Full Review

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Denis Villeneuve

Director

Amy Adams

Louise Banks

Jeremy Renner

Ian Donnelly

Forest Whitaker

Colonel Weber

Michael Stuhlbarg

Agent Halpern

Mark O'Brien

Captain Marks

Arrival: Official Clip - The Nature of a Question

2:08

Arrival: Official Clip - Death Process

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Changed My Mind

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - Past and Present in the Future

2:06

Arrival: Official Clip - The Heptapods Speak

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - You Have the Weapon

1:41

Arrival: Official Clip - Sabotaged Diplomacy

2:13

Arrival: Official Clip - The Many Things We Don't Know

2:10

Arrival: Official Clip - First Contact

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Arrival: Official Clip - A Proper Introduction

2:13

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Arrival: Amy Adams is Incredible in Arrival

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Arrival: TV Spot - Solve the Mystery

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Arrival: 'Global War' Teaser

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Synopsis

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Producer: Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde
Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: 21 Laps Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, FilmNation
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 11, 2016, Wide
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 31, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $100.5M
Runtime: 1h 56m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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